Effect of smokeless tobacco and tobacco-related chemical carcinogens on survival of ultraviolet light-inactivated herpes simplex virus.

Low doses of ultraviolet (UV) light, x-rays, photodynamic treatment, or aflatoxins increase the survival of UV-irradiated virus in cells. This effect is postulated to occur by enhancement of the error-prone cellular repair function, which could also be associated with oncogenic cell transformation. The present study was designed to investigate whether treatment of green monkey kidney cells with water extract of snuff (snuff extract), benzo[a]pyrene, nicotine, or tobacco-specific N'-nitrosamines would result in enhanced survival of UV-irradiated herpes simplex virus (HSV). Exposure of the cells with snuff extract, benzo[a]pyrene. N'-nitrosonornicotine, or 4-(N-methyl-N'-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone resulted in an enhancement of survival of UV-irradiated HSV type 1 compared with the control whereas exposure of the cells with nicotine did not. These data indicate that the water-extractable component of snuff and tobacco-related chemical carcinogens increase the cellular repair mechanism and provides for increased survival of UV-irradiated HSV.